Although the topic of women and reclining is not on the top of anyone’s list when thinking about women in Judaism, it actually cuts directly to the most important and the core questions of women’s social status. Do the Rabbis consider a married woman to be free and liberated? Are there exceptional women? Has women’s status changed over time and how does that change affect her participation in ritual? Through this interesting case study Rahel Berkovits will examine some of the important issues facing us in the modern day.
Liberated from Slavery?: Women and Reclining
Introduction
Rahel Berkovits
Rabbi Rahel Berkovits is Senior Faculty at Pardes, where she has taught Mishnah, Talmud and Halakha for more than twenty years. She lectures widely in Israel and abroad on topics relating to women and Jewish law and Jewish sexual ethics. In 2015, Rahel received rabbinic ordination from Rabbis Herzl Hefter and Daniel Sperber.
Rahel is the halakhic editor and a writer for Hilkhot Nashim, the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance’s halakhic source guide series published by Koren. She is also a founding member of Congregation Shirah Hadasha, a halakhic partnership synagogue in Jerusalem, where she serves on the halakha committee.